Schulz with artillery ammunition in a German weapons factory (Getty)
German arms export approvals to Israel declined after their significant increase last year, in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the resistance factions, as the German government approved in a limited way the export of arms to Tel Aviv during the first weeks of this year.
As of February 15, the German government had agreed to send weapons worth about 9 million euros ($9.75 million), according to what the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced.
Last year, the German government gave the green light to export weapons worth 326.5 million euros to Israel, 10 times what it was the previous year.
The weapons that Germany exported to Israel included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons, 500,000 rounds of machine guns and machine guns, and other automatic or semi-automatic firearms.
The German government agreed to export most of these weapons after the attack of last October 7 on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is responsible for arms exports, announced last November that, as a result of the attack of last October 7, requests to export defense equipment to Israel would be processed and decided on as a matter of priority.
Since last October, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced several times that Israel's security is part of the reason for Germany's existence, as he put it.
However, European Union foreign policy coordinator Josep Borrell recently called on the United States and Israel's other allies to reduce arms shipments, in light of the large toll of victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which Israel rejected.
Source: German News Agency